colonias

Hispanic residents of Travis County will have better access to health care and social services with the help of a new group of promotoras, community health workers trained by Texas A&M’s Colonias Program.

Shannon Van Zandt, the new director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development, is redefining and expanding the center's mission after its separation from the Colonias Program, the center's primary focus since its inception in 1991.

The Colonias Program at the Texas A&M College of Architecture is increasing the availability of potable water to residents of colonias, impoverished communities in the Texas border region, as a partner in the Texas Water Project.

After two decades focused on improving the quality of life for residents of the impoverished, relatively undeveloped villages, or “colonias,” clumped near population centers on the U.S. side of the Texas-Mexico border, the Texas A&M University Colonias Program is celebrating its achievements.

The Rio Grande Guardian noted the graduation of a cadre of promotoras, community health workers trained by Texas A&M’s Center for Housing and Urban Development, in its Aug. 8 issue. The promotoras can now connect their fellow colonias residents with social services .

In search of Texas locations needing children’s summer lunch programs, Catholic Charities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service turned to the Center for Housing and Urban Development for help.

A new book exploring critical planning issues facing Latino communities includes a chapter about a building technique in Texas colonias by Cecilia Giusti, assistant professor of urban planning at Texas A&M, and Miriam Olivares, an Urban and Regional Science doctoral student.

A July 7, 2011 CNN story on Texas colonias highlights recent and ongoing efforts led by the College of Architecture aimed at enhancing the quality of life in these impoverished border communities, many of which lack basic necessities such as potable water, electricity and sewer systems.

Peter Lang, associate professor of architecture, discussed his border studio initiatives in the Los Lomas colonia at the June 24-26 Dwell on Design conference in L. A. His students developed survival strategies and partnered with colonia residents to improve the border community.

Environmental design students worked alongside residents of Las Lomas, a South Texas colonia, on projects aimed at improving the quality of life in the border community. Colonias leaders asked students to create after-school activities and identify ways to raise funds for community center staffing.